Nappy headed hos, faggots, and shlock jerks

Want to become rich and famous? Have no actual talent? Not to worry, you too can become a shlock jerk. It's easy. All you have to do is learn to lie about anything and everything, say hateful and destructive things about others (especially Democrats), find some radio program or tv show that will feature you, and before you know it, you'll find an audience of people who are even more stupid than yourself. While I am not certain I think this may well be a unique American profession. The rise of the shock jock probably correlates well with the degeneration of the American motion picture industry into little more than shock and awe (helped immeasurably by the computer industry). This is not to say there are no decent motion pictures at all, but they are certainly rare these days. When was the last time you saw an ad for a motion picture that was not filled with gratuitous violence?

I cannot believe that MSNBC has devoted the full hour of Hardball for the last three days to nothing but Imus and his disgusting description of the Rutgers girls' basketball team. I mean, like, there is nothing else newsworthy going on in the world? How about Iraq? The Gonzales fiasco? Iran? Syria? Pakistan? Whatever. MSNBC was not alone in the obsession with Imus. I guess after the Anna Nicole Smith paternity question there was just nothing else the American people needed to know about other than Imus. What troubles me the most about the Imus sitation is not that what he said was both racist and sexist. What bothers me more is that it was so stupid. He was stupid in the same way that Coulter's faggot remark was stupid. In these cases there was no connection whatsoever between the remarks and any reality. They were said for nothing more than the shock value. Why would they not say such things? They have been paid exorbitant salaries for years precisely to say shccking things. Things that decent people would simply never say. If we had a caste system these people: Imus, Coulter, Limbaugh, et al, would be at the same level as those in India who clean out the latrines. The fact that such people not only survive, but thrive, is a terrible commentary on the American public. Imus has said such things before. Coulter and Limbaugh routinely say such things. They are rarely condemned for it. They have gotten away with their trash talk for years. Perhaps this may be the final straw that will turn the tide away from indecent hip-hop lyrics as well as indecent, hateful, and stupid talk show garbage. I don't believe in censorship. On the other hand I'm not confident we can leave everything up to the market. Perhaps the only bright spot in this recent Imus situation is that many of his sponsors backed away. Perhaps in this case the market may actually start putting a stop to the worst of these shlock jerks. Wouldn't that be nice?